Killing in the Village Commons

Chapter 1 I'm not sure whose idea it was to have my going away party after hours at Jessica's café. I don't remember ever even having a conversation about it. But when we found ourselves there after a long day of hiking along the area trails overlooking Lake Superior, it felt kind of perfect. It was, after all, the exact place where I had met them all for the first time. The lingering smells of coffee and pastries were very different from the beer and roasting meat aromas at my grandmother's meeting hall where we usually hung out. The windows were facing the wrong way for a lake view, and anyway they were frosted over within minutes of the four of us breathing inside the building. But the near-constant sound of trucks roaring by, their headlights filling up the café even more brightly than the overhead lights, was a comfort. This place, up by the freeway, was far more a part of the modern world than the fishing town of Runde in the river valley below us. And the odds of coming across a direct descendant of the Viking Age were slimmer here as well, unless you included me in that number. I wasn't sure if I should be counted as one of them yet. But that was part of why I was leaving my friends in the first place, and I buried those thoughts and feelings deep and summoned up a smile as we settled into the over-stuffed chairs that were grouped around the largest of the coffee tables. "I know this little gathering is about saying farewell to Ingrid, but I want to get everyone's opinion on some stuff," Jessica said as she peeled off her pink beanie and stuffed it with her mittens into the pockets of her already-hanging coat before disappearing into the back room behind the counter of the café part of her bookstore café. As hastily as she had ripped that hat off, her blonde braid-crown had been as perfect as when she'd first put that hat on hours before. I had no idea how she did that. My hair was in half-frozen snarls that would be knots even after the ice packed in it melted away. "Too late for coffee. Should I make some tea? Something herbal?" Andrew offered, half moving towards the kettle beside the coffee machine behind the counter. "No, I brought something better," Michelle said. She reached for a canvas bag she had left in the café that morning before our hike and pulled out a bottle of wine. "I thought a little change from mead and beer would be welcome." "Oh, perfect!" Jessica said as she came back into the room with a tray in her hands. "I wanted you all to help me try these savory tarts and cheese biscuits. They'll go great with red wine." "Did you bring glasses?" I asked, peeking into the top of the bag. Michelle's face fell. "No. Just the corkscrew. I knew I was forgetting something." "At least it wasn't the corkscrew," Andrew said as he opened the cupboard over the coffee machine and pulled out four mugs. "Cups we have." "And pretensions we don't," I said as Michelle poured the wine into the mugs. We clinked them all together, then each took a sip. "That's nice." "It's from a winery north of here," Michelle said. "Isn't a little cold for wine here?" I asked. "The grapes are from California, but they press the wine here," she told me. "Interesting," I said, taking another sip. "I'm no connoisseur, but this is quite good." "Try the food," Jessica said, even as she got back to her feet to run off again. But this time she didn't disappear in the back, rather she stopped at one of the computers, woke it up from sleep mode and started clicking through various windows. "What are you doing?" Andrew asked her as he reached for one of the cheese biscuits. I took a tartlet and gave it an experimental sniff. Vegetables and cheese, for sure. I thought maybe leek and a sharp cheddar? I took a bite and added potato to that list. It was the perfect size; any bigger and it would be too rich to finish. "I signed up for one of those music services so I can have something playing in the background, but I have like a zillion options and it's too overwhelming, so I've been putting off using it. Here," she said, clicking on something. Speakers I couldn't see filled the café with music. It was playing softly enough for a place of business, but the discordant sounds of guitars and drums were far too aggressive. "No," Michelle said firmly. "How about this?" Jessica said, clicking on something else. Now we had children singing a cover of a pop song. "No, never mind. This one?" she clicked again. "I know that song," Andrew said after we'd all listened in silence for half a verse. "That's from the 80s, right? I can't place the band." "It sounds Jazz Age to me," I said. "That torch song way of singing, you know what I mean?" "Maybe it's a cover?" he said with a shrug and reached for another cheese biscuit. "It's a strong 'yes' vote for the biscuits from me, by the way," he said, holding a hand in front of his full mouth as he spoke. "Oh, good," Jessica said, looking so relieved I only belatedly realized she had been nervous about what we were going to say. "These tartlets are fantastic as well," I said. "Where did you find the recipe?" "I combined a few different ones," she said. "I guess they're my own creation now. There's two kinds there, actually." I looked at the tray and realized there were subtle differences. The ones closer to Michelle were lighter in color, but with darker green flecks. Broccoli, with a white cheddar, maybe? "And the music?" she asked, hand still hovering over the mouse. "Let's stick with this for a while," Andrew said. "It's kind of nice. Familiar, and yet not too familiar." "Old stuff in a new way," Michelle said. "Old stuff in an even older way," I said. "And yet the concept feels new. I like it." Another lapse of silence fell over us. I told myself that the others were just focused on the wine and food, but I couldn't shake the feeling that my mentioning old and older things had just cast a pall over our little party. Andrew took out his phone to glance at the screen before tucking it back away again. I shot him a questioning look, but he just shrugged. "I thought Luke would be here. Or, I mean, Loke." "I'll be seeing plenty of him after today. Maybe he thought his presence would just remind us all of that," I said. As if his presence could bring the party further down than mine was doing. "It's not forever," Jessica reminded all of us. "Not that it will fly by or anything. But it's not forever. And any time you have something to add to your wall over there, you just have to send it to me through Loke." I looked back over my shoulder at where a few carefully chosen examples of my art hung on the wall nearest the register. I had yet to sell anything, but the winter skiing season hadn't quite gotten under swing yet. "I will," I said, although inside I was less sure I'd still have time for art. I was about to undertake a lot more responsibilities. And I only had the vaguest of ideas of what they would entail. If my grandmother knew what was being planned for my education, she wasn't sharing any of it with me. Michelle clapped her hands together, making us all jump. "No more of this gloomy brooding. Finish up what's in your mugs. I brought two other wines to try, and we're getting through all of them before we say good night." "And I have some homemade crackers for you all to try," Jessica said. The next few hours were companionable, if far from outright happy. The wine and cheese were delicious, and Jessica's seeded crackers were amazing. When had she even baked these? We'd just spent the whole day together, the four of us. But finally the last of the wine was gone, and we had gone from late night to very early morning. "I should get going," I said. "Yeah," Jessica said glumly. "You have that thing at dawn." "Well, and the rest of you have normal jobs as well," I said. "You already closed the café for an entire day. You can't do that again tomorrow." "No," she agreed. We all helped her clean up the mess we'd made, then pulled on hats and coats and mittens. The boots we'd left near the heater were dry and toasty-warm, although it didn't take more than a few steps out in the deep winter cold for that warmth to fade. We trudged together in silence down the path to the road that ran along the lake shore. The night was clear with a million stars overhead, the nearly full moon gleaming brightly over the waters of Lake Superior. "I guess this is where we part ways," Jessica said, pulling me into a tight hug. "Learn everything they have to teach you just as quick as you can." "I will," I promised. "Take care of you," Michelle said as she too gave me a hug so fierce I was grateful for the padding of my winter coat. "I'll see you as soon as I can," I promised them both. Then I watched the two of them walking along the road to the north, to their respective childhood homes. "Shall we?" Andrew said when their silhouettes were swallowed up by the shadows of the trees and the sounds of their boots over the snow lost under the rustling of waves on the shore. "I guess so," I said, turning to the south. It was only a few minutes' walk to his house. So short a way. Too short for everything I wanted to say. But also too long, because this wasn't the time to say any of it. Aside from my own feelings being a tangled mess of confusion, even if I had sorted any of it out, what was there to say now? Now, when I'd be gone in the morning for months or maybe even years? But Andrew didn't seem to mind my silence. We walked together beside the lake and looked up at the stars and said not a word. And it was kind of perfect. "This is you?" I said when we reached his driveway. "I'll walk the rest of the way with you," he said. "Have you set up your new place yet?" "No, I haven't been back up to the village since I spoke with the council," I admitted. "But it's already furnished and everything. My grandmother's parents lived there until they died, and nothing has been moved since." "No personal touches, then?" he asked. "Well, my grandmother and I will be bringing up as much of my stuff as we can carry tomorrow," I said. "Not that I have all that much. You helped me unload my car when I got here to Runde, if you remember." "Yeah, I remember," he said. He seemed to be thinking of something else, though. "What is it?" I asked. "Nothing," he said. "It isn't nothing," I said. "Okay, I just worry that you're not doing more to make the place really yours," he said. "I will," I said. "I just wanted to spend every possible minute I had left in Runde being in Runde. Surely you understand?" "I do," he said. "Perhaps it would be closer to the point if I just say that I worry. About you." "I won't be in any danger," I said. I deliberately didn't mention Thorbjorn, who with his brothers was the chief reason I would never, ever be in any danger. But even in dark of night I could see in Andrew's eyes that he was thinking of Thorbjorn anyway. "I know you'll be safe. I worry that you won't be happy," he said. "I know I don't know the first thing about what it means to be a volva, but I still worry you signed on to something much bigger than yourself." "You don't think I can do it?" I asked, surprised to find myself hurt at the thought. I had taken his support for granted, I guess. "No, that's not what I meant," he said with a frustrated sigh. "Just, maybe you're sacrificing too much and getting too little in return. That's what I meant." "Okay," I said, but then shook my head. "No, I still don't follow you. What are you trying to tell me?" "Never mind. It's probably not even my place to say. Just forget I said anything," he said. We had reached the gate to my grandmother's back garden, and I undid the latch but didn't step inside. I could hear something scratching about in the snow-encrusted dried remains of her hedges and suspected my cat Mjolner had let himself outside again. You'd think cats would hate the cold, but Mjolner practically thrived on it. "I don't want to forget," I told him. "Tell me what you're trying to say so I can hold on to the memory. Definitely don't leave me with this maddeningly awkward conversation as our last time together." He took a deep breath but still seemed reluctant to speak again. I caught the sleeve of his parka in my mittened hand and pulled him a little closer. "Tell me." "Okay," he said, looking straight into my eyes. My stomach flipped over. It must have been a bit too much for him as well, as he quickly dropped his gaze. "I like you," he said, speaking to my feet, or maybe even to his own. "I like you, who you are now. Not that I think you should never grow or change, of course. I just worry when you come back, maybe you won't be you anymore." He barked out a humorless laugh. "I know. Silly." "It's not silly," I said. "To be honest, I worry about that too. I mean, my grandmother handles it all great, but I don't know if she isn't some kind of exception. The only other woman I know who had learned anything like what I'm going to start learning, she was really twisted. Maybe she started out that way. I think maybe she did? But what if she didn't? I don't have all the answers either." He nodded, still looking down at the ground between us. "Hey," I said, tugging his sleeve again. "I'm not going to forget you. And thank you for telling me what was weighing on you. I won't forget this moment either." "And yourself," he said, finally looking at me again. "Don't forget yourself." "I think it will be easier not to forget you," I said. I meant to say it lightly, like a little joke to dispel the moment. But somehow it came out of my throat all choked with sincerity. And then his eyes were focused on my lips and he was leaning in, and my hand on his arm was gripping him way too tight. This was a bad idea. I had specifically told myself before this last night with my friends that I wouldn't do anything that implied a future I couldn't promise any of them. And now I was on the cusp of doing the very worst thing of all. Yet I couldn't seem to stop it. Then Andrew's face was moving away from mine so he could make eye contact, giving me a questioning look. But before I could answer, he cleared his throat and stepped away from me. I was suddenly icy cold and hugged my arms around myself. "Sorry," he said, clearing his throat again. "I'm sorry," I said. "I just can't-" But he held up a hand, cutting off the rest of my words. "I understand. I do. Best of luck to you. I mean it." "Andrew," I said, but he just turned away and thrust his hands deep into his parka pockets as he walked back up the road to his own home. I touched my mittened fingertips to my lips. I really wanted to chase him down, to turn him around and kiss him for all he was worth. But it was still a really bad idea. "Mew?" Mjolner chirped at me from somewhere inside the hedge. "Yes, I'm all right," I said to him as I stepped into the garden and latched the gate behind me. "Come on. Let's go finish that packing." I doubted very much I was ever going to get to sleep that night. Not with this heavy aching weight in my chest.